Surprise
by Stella Malodi
Summary: Takashi surprises Haruhi. Mori/Haruhi giftfic for CatrinaSL.
1. A Surprising Contestant

**Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC, but I _do_ have a pair of hiking boots.**

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Haruhi might have been uncomfortable if she had known how closely she was watched by the Host Club.

Then again, perhaps not. She didn't fluster easily, and that trait only grew stronger as she continued to associate with the club. However, she _would_ have gotten upset if she had learned how often their 'watching' crossed the line into 'invading her privacy.'

They all had a justification of some kind. Tamaki-kun and Mitsukuni simply didn't have any concept of privacy. The twins told anyone who would listen that she was "their toy" (and therefore didn't have a right to keep things from them). Kyōya-kun tended to think that _everything _was his business; Haruhi's business was no exception.

Takashi, however, tried not to cross the line. Like the others, he wanted to know more about her, but he was more concerned with making her happy. Crossing the line from watching to snooping would only make her angry, not happy, so he made do with watching her. In turn, the _way_ he watched her changed.

While they watched and waited for her to smile, he watched and wondered what made her happy.

While they thought of ways to make her stay in the club, he thought of reasons why she might want to stay.

While the others studied her 'common' way of life, Takashi studied her uncommon way of looking at things.

While they all learned to love her, only Takashi learned what she loved.

She loved kindness and consideration; good deeds made her smile.

She loved a little silliness now and then; she was more likely to laugh with fond amusement than with pure humor.

Most of all, she loved good food; it was the only thing that could consistently make her blush.

It took time, of course, for him to understand her, to love her, and to recognise the love he held for her. But once he understood himself, he quietly, unobtrusively entered the race for her heart.

Perhaps 'race' would be the wrong word. In a race, the path to be taken is clearly marked, the trail is free of debris and pitfalls, and the contestants are generally on even footing. This contest was more like an exercise in tracking: the path to Haruhi's heart was hard to find, harder to follow, and almost impossible to finish without some sort of advantage.

Mitsukuni hadn't looked for long before he decided he didn't want to be in the race after all.

Kaoru-kun and Kyōya-kun each dropped out before they'd truly begun, in deference to Hikaru-kun and Tamaki-kun, respectively.

The King and remaining twin stumbled about, blindly following paths they had walked before. They ignored or didn't see the signs telling them they were going the wrong way.

Takashi walked forward confidently. Unlike the others, he had brought a map.

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**5/27/14**

**A/N: Welcome to Surprise, the surprise gift fic I've written for CatrinaSL! As of today, we've been writing together for one year. That's right: today is the anniversary of our co-awesomeness. Happy anniversary! :D**


	2. A Surprising Visitor

**Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC, but I _do_ have a backpack.**

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Haruhi's studying was interrupted by a knock at her door. She sighed. Was a little peace too much to ask for? Couldn't she have just _one_ weekend to herself, to do the things she needed to do?

She opened the door. Mori-sempai stood there. He was alone. She frowned in confusion. "Mori-sempai? Where are Hani-sempai and the others?"

He shrugged.

"You're… here by yourself?"

He nodded.

She blinked. "Oh. Well, come in, I guess. I was just doing some studying…"

He made no move to enter, but spoke. "Would you like to have a picnic with me?"

"Er…" she glanced longingly back inside.

"You can bring your books."

"Well…" she said, beginning to waver.

"I'll help you study."

"...I _guess_ that would be okay. But I have to be back in time to do my chores."

He nodded, smiled slightly, and ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Why don't you come in? It'll be a minute before I'm ready to go." This time he accepted the invitation, slipping off his shoes and closing the door behind him as she walked into her room. She didn't put much thought into her clothes, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, but she figured anything that wasn't sweats would be better than the lounge-wear she'd had on. When she emerged, Mori-sempai was sitting at the table, looking over the work she'd already done on her history assignment. She stood off to the side, quietly watching him read. When he'd finished, he looked up and met her eyes.

"You did a good job, Haruhi."

She smiled warmly. "Thank you, Mori-sempai."

He nodded, accepting her thanks. "What do you need to work on?"

"Hm…" she said as she looked at the books piled on her table. "Well, I'm not quite done with that History assignment, and I still have studying to do for English and Physics." As she named each subject, she grabbed the related books and stuffed them into her school bag. She looked over the books on the table one last time and nodded decisively. "Okay, I think that's everything I need. I'm ready to go."

He stood and walked with her to the door. There was a moment of awkward shuffling as they tried to figure out who should stand where while they both put on their shoes, but they figured it out without too much fuss. She locked the door behind her and had to hold back a sigh when she spotted the fancy car that had to be Mori-sempai's. _Well, at least it _is _a car,_ she thought, trying to console herself. _They usually show up in limousines. Really, this is practically going incognito!_

"So where are we going?" she asked as they walked to the car. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't answer.

"Mori-sempai?"

"You'll see," he said.

Haruhi fought a frown. The fact that he wouldn't tell her where they were going did not bode well. She probably should have asked for more details before agreeing to this "picnic." But… at least he had _asked_. He hadn't ordered, kidnapped, or blackmailed her into it. She was undecided on whether or not his offer to help her study counted as a bribe, but it was still just an _offer_. She could have said no, and he would have accepted it.

It was a nice change.


	3. A Surprising Outing

**Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC, but I _do_ have a cell phone.**

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Haruhi spent the journey thinking- trying to figure out where they were going, and imagining what sort of day he had planned. He'd _said _they were going on a picnic, but with a member of the Host Club, that could mean just about anything. If she was lucky, they were headed to a picturesque piece of private property, where they would sit on a blanket and do their best to ignore the person discretely serving their food. That would be a bit ridiculous, but potentially enjoyable. If she wasn't lucky… She was pulled from images of crystal goblets, silverware, and a five-course meal served by a legion of waiters by Mori-sempai's voice.

"Haruhi."

"Hm?" She blinked and focused on him, suddenly realizing that she hadn't spoken to him since they'd gotten into the car. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was just thinking about where we might be going and got lost in thought. I didn't mean to be rude…"

He shook his head and ruffled her hair. "We're here."

She blinked and looked out the window. "Are we… at a park?"

"Yes."

"A… public park?"

He looked amused. "Yes."

She looked closer. There were lots of people; in fact, it was pretty crowded. "And you… you didn't, I don't know, somehow _rent _the whole park so that no one else would be able to come?"

"No."

"So… this will actually be a normal picnic?"

"Mm… mostly," he said as he helped her out of the car.

The dissipating dread made a quick return. "Mostly?"

"It's a surprise."

"Mori-sempai…"

"Takashi."

"What?"

"Call me Takashi."

She took a moment to process this, then shrugged. "Okay, Takashi-sempai."

The chauffeur, who had been rummaging around in the trunk of the car, suddenly closed it and approached them. He bowed, and much to Haruhi's surprise, handed her friend a picnic basket and a blanket, which looked to be new, but cheap. "Have a good time, Takashi-sama."

He nodded and replied, "I'll call when we're ready to go." The man bowed again, and the two hosts moved away from the departing car and towards the grass of the park.

They walked in a mostly-comfortable silence for a time, until Haruhi noticed that her companion was acting a little odd. He kept glancing around the park, scanning the grounds in a way that suggested he wasn't simply enjoying the view. "Are you… looking for something?"

"A tree."

She frowned for a moment in confusion- there were trees everywhere- but her expression cleared when she realized that _all_ of the nearby trees had people sitting under them. She joined him in his search and was more successful. "Over there, Mori- er, Takashi-sempai." They quickly made their way to the tree. Unfortunately, they weren't quite fast enough, but they almost immediately found another tree. A small family nearby was standing, folding blankets, and obviously preparing to leave. The two friends approached and began setting up on the opposite side, out of the way of the departing family.

They heard the woman giggle. "Those two look like we did when we first started dating. How cute!" The man chuckled, agreed, and began leading her and their young daughter away. The words made Haruhi freeze, and she mentally ran through her morning again.

"Ah… Mor- Takashi-sempai… Is this a date?"

"Yes," he answered, then paused before adding, "if that's alright with you."

"It's fine," she assured him with a smile. "I wish you'd given me more warning, though. I should have brought something along; dessert, maybe."

He shook his head. "I brought everything. And I was actually just planning on asking you today," he admitted, "but-"

He was interrupted by the ringing of Haruhi's cell phone.

She frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry; can you hold that thought?"

He nodded, and to her surprise he looked almost smug.

She answered the phone. "_Mosh_-"

"HARUHI! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? HAVE THEY HURT YOU?!"

"Tono, give me the phone. Haruhi, where are you?"

She frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're not home. Tono found out about a Renaissance Faire that's only a few hours away and wants us all to dress up and go. We're already running late. First Usa-chan was missing, then we couldn't find Mori-sempai. We tried calling him, but his cell phone was off, so we ended up running all over his house looking for him until Satoshi-kun found us and said he wasn't home. Kyōya-sempai's still got people looking, but we might have to go without him. Then _you_ weren't home, which sent Tono panicking until Hikaru suggested that you might be at the store, but we couldn't find you there either. Kyōya-sempai finally asked why we didn't just call you. So where are you? We need to hurry if we're going to get you into your costume."

She was silent for a moment after the onslaught of information, but quickly latched on to the most important part. "'Costume'?" she asked. "No. No way. I dress up enough during normal club activities."

"But Haruhi…" Kaoru-kun whined.

"_No,"_ she said emphatically.

"But-"

Takashi-sempai held out his hand for the phone, and she gladly gave it to him. "Haruhi can't talk right now. She's busy. Studying. You'll have to go without us." He hung up and turned off the phone.

She smiled at him. "Thank you for that," she said. "So, how long do you think it'll take for them to show up?" She was resigned to the fact that they _would_ show up and intrude on her outing.

"Mm. A while," he replied.

She stared at him for a moment with raised eyebrows, silently demanding that he explain.

"My family has a helicopter."

"So... for all they know, we could be just about anywhere in Japan?"

"Exactly."

She shook her head in exasperated amusement and relaxed for the first time since her phone rang. "I don't think I'll ever get used to just how _rich_ you all are," she said. "We're out _studying_, at least as far as they're concerned, and we might be anywhere in Japan." She laughed. "It's just ridiculous!"

He smiled, and she smiled back for a long moment before changing the subject. "Anyway, did you already know about this plan of theirs?"

He nodded. "Since this morning. They went to Mitsukuni's house first. He called and told me what was going on, then kept them busy while I went went to your house."

She could just _imagine_ Hani-sempai's idea of 'keeping someone busy'. She almost felt sorry for Tamaki-sempai and the others.

Almost.

"And you… decided to get me out of the house before they could?"

He nodded.

"What made you decide on a picnic?"

"I'd already planned it."

She tilted her head to the side. "Oh?"

"I was going to ask you today if you wanted to go tomorrow. Or next weekend. Or whenever you were free."

"Oh." She considered this, trying to decide how she should react. There was something very _sweet_ about what he'd just said. It made her feel… something. She wasn't sure what. Her feelings confused her, but they weren't _bad_ feelings, so she did her best to focus instead on the subject at hand. "And when Tamaki-sempai decided the club should go to that fair…"

"The plan changed."

A slow, warm smile spread across her face. "So now it's a date, a study session, and a rescue mission all in one?"

He smiled back. "Right."

"Thank you. This…" she looked around. "This is absolutely perfect."

"I'm glad," he said softly.

Something in his voice made her look up at him. What she found there brought her confused emotions back to the surface. There was something about the way he was looking at her that she just didn't understand. When she looked into his eyes, she saw joy, satisfaction, and that soft, unknown _something _that was at the heart of her confusion.

She couldn't hold his gaze. It was too much. She changed the subject. "So… where's my surprise, Takashi-sempai?"

He considered her for a moment. "Close your eyes."

She obeyed somewhat reluctantly, but her eyes flew open when she felt something pressing lightly against her lips. "Wha-!" she started to object, but Takashi-sempai took the opportunity her slightly-open mouth presented. She resisted for a moment longer, but then she realized what was happening and relaxed. Her cheeks flushed, her eyes fluttered closed again, and she delighted in savoring the new but wonderful taste that had invaded her mouth.

"That… was not normal picnic food…"

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Surprise. I thought it was about time you got to try ootoro."

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**A/N: I think the twins (either Hikaru & Kaoru or Fred & George, I'm not sure which) might have taken over my keyboard. Or maybe I'm just secretly a little bit evil. Well, regardless of whether or not I have earned the right to yell "Gotcha!" and cackle, I hope you've enjoyed reading "Surprise" as much as I've enjoyed writing it (that is, a whole lot). This is, in fact, the end. **

**Probably. **

**Almost certainly. **

**Okay, so I've been thinking about maybe doing an epilogue of some sort, but I haven't written it, so if I do, it'll be a while. And it might not happen.  
**

**ANYWAY, a happy Co-awesome Anniversary to CatrinaSL! This year has been a blast, and I look forward to many more!**


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